The
State of the States in Environmental Dispute Resolution:
NEW YORK
| Current Projects: | United States Postal Service | Employment Arbitration | Indiana Dept of Env. Management | Indiana ADR Providers | Shared Neutrals Pilot | U.S. Dept. of Justice |
| Completed Projects: | U.S. Env. Protection Agency | EDR State of States | National Institutes of Health | Focus Groups Sessions |
Status:
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) provides EDR services within
its adjudications office. In fact, the name of the adjudications office has been changed
from "Hearings" to "Hearings and Mediation." The office provides a
number of EDR services ranging from ombuds to arbitration.
Legal Authority:
N.Y. C.P.L.R. 7501–7514 (McKinney 1998) (providing that arbitration agreements are
valid and enforceable and establishing law governing the enforcement and implementation of
arbitration agreements).
Contact Information:
Daniel Louis, Chief Administrative Law Judge
Office of Hearings and Mediation Services
New York Department of Environmental Conservation
50 Wolf Rd., Room 423
Albany, NY 12233-1550
Phone: (518) 457-3468
Fax: (518) 485-7714
Email: delouis@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Program Summary The DEC’s adjudications office, the Office of Hearings and Mediation Services (OHMS), provides a wide range of ADR services. Because the OHMS is an independent office within the DEC, it is considered neutral. Mediation is the mainstay of the office’s EDR program. The EDR program is expanding and currently serves other agencies including the Adirondack Park Agency and the New York Office of the Attorney General.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Louis initiated the EDR program. He has authored articles on the use of ADR in environmental disputes. The DEC program was supported by Governor George Pataki, who wanted to keep costs down and resolve disputes without continued litigation. Louis recognized EDR as a means to resolve conflicts while meeting the governor’s objectives.
The DEC program run by Chief Judge Louis mirrors a structured negotiation. The cases are referred by staff and directors in regions and divisions of the DEC. There is no requirement that a certain kind of case go through EDR. Parties often get involved with the process when the DEC serves them with a complaint. Attorneys are usually involved, and it is rare that nonattorneys participate. However, there are some self-represented parties. The OHMS also mediates large, multiparty environmental disputes. The OHMS reports an eighty-five percent success rate.
The DEC also uses EDR on an informal basis. Many staff members are skilled at negotiation and use it on a daily basis to resolve conflicts. Key personnel, including all administrative law judges, have been trained in EDR techniques. Twenty-two staff members have at least fifty hours of training. The DEC also has ongoing negotiation workshops, lectures, and brown bag lunches addressing EDR use.
Lessons Learned
-
The system design must be consensual.
Forcing people to the table seldom works.
- Parties must come to the table willing to bargain in good faith.
- Decisionmaking power must stay with the parties.
- The mediation program design needs to be simple and flexible in order to work.
- To avoid institutional resistance, the program must not be forced from the top down, and the staff needs to be educated on the benefits of EDR.
Further Information
Publications
OFFICE OF HEARINGS & MEDIATION SERVS., New York State Dep’t of Envtl. Conservation, The Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution in DEC (1997), Available at http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ohms/adr2.pdf
Daniel E. Louis, Assisted Negotiations: Another Approach to Settlement, ENVTL. COMPLIANCE & LITIG. STRATEGY, Aug. 1998, at 5–6.
Daniel E. Louis, Fostering Use of ADR to Resolve Environmental Disputes, in ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN NEW YORK 145 (1997).
Daniel E. Louis, How ADR Can Enhance Environmental Negotiations, 16 ALTERNATIVES TO HIGH COSTS LITIG. 65 (1998).
Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute
Last updated: June 1999
Comments: ICRI Administrator
Copyright 1999 -
Indiana University, Bloomington